Evangelism Tips and Tricks | Rapp Report Daily Wrap-up 0013 | Striving for Eternity

Evangelism Fears and the Sovereignty of God

Welcome to The Wrap Up, daily edition, where we provide a quick biblical interpretations and applications.

This is a ministry of striving for eternity. As a wrap-up for this week, we've been talking about the topic of evangelism. It is one many people don't really want to talk about because it's something a lot of us as Christians don't want to do.

We have a lot of different fears. We'd address some of them in our daily podcasts. We address the fact that sometimes we think we don't have the answers for what they say, or they're gonna make claims that we don't know how to answer.

We don't need to, by the way. Sometimes we're gonna think that we might say the wrong thing, or not know how to word it well. But the encouragement is that we are going to see that we are not the ones that have to be responsible for their repentance or salvation.

No, God is sovereign, and we can rest upon that. And the nice thing about that is that we can end up seeing that God is the one who does the saving. And so we're gonna see that that pressure is off us.

All we have to do is be faithful to God, just trust in God, and be encouraged to go out day after day, week after week, and know that we might get rejected thousands of times, but that one sinner that comes to repentance, oh, is that worth it?

Oh, what joy we have when that happens. And so this week as we wrap up, I want to encourage you to go out and share the gospel with someone today. And as you listen to this weekly wrap-up, think about who it is you could go and share the gospel with, even today.

Confidence in Evangelism and the Value of Personal Testimony

Evangelism? Oh, no, that's a scary word. That's right. That's what we are gonna talk about this week. And for many, evangelism brings up anxiety, fear, I just don't know what to do. The reality is we can be confident in evangelizing to our friends, our family, our co-workers, our schoolmates, our neighbors, or the complete stranger that we meet on the street.

Why? Well, very simply because we have the truth. Think about that. We're often afraid that we won't have the right answers. We may say something wrong, maybe just not gonna be able to put it together right and fumble those words and trip all over ourselves, and oh no!

The reality simply is you have God's Word. You know more than the person you're speaking to when it comes to how to get right with God because you're a believer in Jesus Christ, and they're not. You can just share what Christ did for you in your life.

In fact, one of the advantages of personal testimony is people kind of can't criticize it as much. Now you don't want to just leave it all about personal experience. You want to be able to back that up with Scripture.

But you can always have your testimony and what God did in your life as something to explain to someone else of what God can do in their life. And as we look at evangelism this week, we're gonna overcome some of the fears that people have.

Answering Tough Questions and Asking for Proof

We're also going to try to give some encouragement to keep at evangelism. Most often complaint or fear that people have when it comes to evangelizing is the fact that they think they're going to be challenged with something that they just don't have an answer to.

That can happen. Now I jokingly say, especially when I'm evangelizing in the open air and I stand up on a box, I will say, I can answer any question about God and the Bible, which often gets people looking right away and they are thinking they're toughest questions.

And sometimes what I'll do is I'll let them ask those questions. When they ask a question, that's really hard and I go, I don't know. And they say, you said you can answer any question about God in the Bible.

I said, I can, but I believe I don't know is a perfectly good answer. We have to remember that sometimes. We can say, I don't know. But you know what? Give me your email address and I'll try to get an answer for you.

You often find that they don't want an answer. They just want to stump you. Which brings up the point, when people give you a challenge because they really don't care about an answer, they're looking to stump you.

Always remember this simple rule and this will never have fear again when people do this. If they make a challenge, you ask a question. Just remember that. They made the claim. Therefore, they have the responsibility, the burden of proof to support that claim.

If they make a claim, you don't have to answer it. You ask them to support it. You ask them a question. They say that God doesn't exist. What is your evidence of that? That's a question. Always ask a question for their claim.

God Sovereignly Uses Weak Words and Misspeaking

Many people are afraid that they're not going to have the right words to say. They may say something that's incorrect. They may not have the best wording when they are sharing the gospel. Here's a simple thing to remember.

This is going to blow your mind. Are you ready for this? God is sovereign. That's right. God is in control. God can use your poor wording, even your wrong wording, or anything else you may say, to lead someone to repentance.

Because God is the one that brings them to repentance. And so because of that, we have to remember, it's not something we do. It's not our wording. It's not how eloquent we are. It is all about God doing what God will do.

When I came to Christ, the gentleman who led me to Christ, Chuck, said something that was theologically not so sound. In fact, it was pretty downright insulting and offensive. See, my mother had died, and people knew that I got a little bit violent when people would speak about my mother.

And he said, what if your mother died? She'd be right here, right now, listening to this message, and you walk away. Your mother would have died in vain. Now, is that the only reason my mother died? No.

Theologically, that's incorrect. And so you look at that. Is that offensive? Absolutely. But you know what? It was exactly what I needed to hear, to turn around and talk to him and find out what it is he wanted, that he believed about the Bible.

And that's what brought me to get to a point where I came to repentance. You never know what God can use. He can even use your misspeaking to bring others to a knowledge of Christ. A thing that many people, when it comes to evangelism, have trouble with is staying encouraged.

Persevering Through Rejection and Making Disciples

Because it can be awful discouraging when you're handing out a gospel tract, and someone rejects it. And you go to hand another one, and they reject that one too. And a third person, and they reject that one also.

See, it can be greatly discouraging. But remember this, that it is God that we are being faithful to. Not someone taking a gospel tract. Not someone receiving Christ. We are not responsible for their obedience to God.

We're not responsible for their repentance. We are responsible to be faithful to Jesus Christ, and do what he's called us to do in making disciples. We make disciples of all people, everybody, teaching them all things that Christ has taught us.

Now, to the unbeliever who doesn't know Jesus Christ, the only and first thing we must teach them is how to get right with God. Once they become right with God, then we disciple them on to all other things.

But we are faithful. We have to be faithful. That's all. We are faithful to going out and sharing the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, having died on a cross, buried, and risen again three days later, for our sins.

We share that with people, even though they may not want to hear it. And it can be discouraging. But there is hope. Because there is that one time that you have somebody who comes to know Christ, and that is so encouraging.

You're on a spiritual high, maybe even for days. But then you get the privilege of discipling them and teaching them all things that Christ has taught you. I know this week we've been dealing with a topic that many like to avoid, and that is the topic of evangelism.

Practice Evangelism and Put Feet to Prayer

But as we kind of wrap this week up, I would like to encourage you. Because we've tried to give you some tips on evangelism. The fact that you can have answers for people, and I don't know is a perfectly good answer.

We've tried to let you know that you don't have to worry about your wording. We wanted to encourage you to know that God is sovereign. He's in control. And the fact that no matter what you say, God can use it.

But the thing is, none of this is going to happen if we don't go out and practice. I often say that it is not correct to say that practice makes permanent. I say practice makes permanent. If you practice incorrectly, you're going to do things incorrectly.

So we must practice evangelism and do it correctly if we're ever going to get better. But I can tell you one thing, if you never get out there and practice at all, you're never going to get better, and you're never going to do it.

We actually have to get up out of our seats, put feet to our prayers, and not just pray that we'll talk to others about Christ, but actually go out there and share the good news of Jesus Christ. And I would like to encourage you to do that.

If you would like to have us come to your church or group to do our evangelism seminar called Ambassadors Evangelism, you can contact us at info at strivingforeternity .org, and we'll come out and do one of our seminars for you.

This podcast is part of the Striving for Eternity ministry. For more content or to request a speaker or seminar to your church, go to strivingforeternity .org.